The following references to and descriptions of prior proposals or products are not intended to be, and are not to be construed as, statements or admissions of common general knowledge in the art. In particular, the following prior art discussion does not relate to what is commonly or well known by the person skilled in the art, but assists in the understanding of the inventive step of the present invention of which the identification of pertinent prior art proposals is but one part.
Animal behaviour modification is an ancient and intensely active field of human endeavour. Undesirable animal behaviour may manifest in actions that are unpleasant or dangerous to humans or other animals, or are potentially injurious to the animal itself. Behaviours in dogs, cattle and horses have particularly important consequences for humans in terms of quality of life issues and industry applications involving such animals.
A major behavioural problem in equine related industries (including the racing industry) and agricultural industries involves wind sucking or cribbing by equine animals. This is a self destructive and psychologically addictive behaviour. The behaviour is particularly observed in horses which become frustrated and bored when constrained in relatively small areas such as stables or small feedlots. A horse suffering from this condition typically aggressively bites on a rail or upper structure of similar height, arches its neck and sucks in air. The associated action can cause inflammation of the larynx and windpipe, stomach convulsions and generally results in a deterioration of the condition, including muscle wasting, of the animal over time.
Devices have been proposed to overcome this affliction and the field is the subject of considerable interest due to the high monetary value associated with equine stock, particularly in the racing industry. One such proposal involves a device with physical protrusions which are designed to press on the horse's throat when the animal exhibits wind sucking behaviour. However, in practice such physical devices do not provide a sufficient deterrent over time. The animal tends to develop a tolerance to the discomfort caused by the protrusions and the animal may continue or resume the behaviour despite the presence of the device.
Electric shock devices have been considered for the modification of animal behaviour generally. However, such devices pose safety risks for the animal, particularly where there is the potential for the device to be permanently or repeatedly activated. In the worst case, such deficiencies may result in injury to the animal. At best, such devices may result in the draining of the charge source and cessation of operation of the device with the inevitable resumption of the undesirable behaviour. Moreover, such prior art proposals are ineffective in targeting the specific wind-sucking behaviour and may be inappropriately activated by other, sometimes acceptable, behaviours such as rearing and frolicking.
There is therefore a need for device that overcomes the aforementioned disadvantages of the prior art or, at least, provides a useful alternative thereto.